x in pattaya
January 22nd, 2012, 13:36
After the flood.
A few days ago after visiting a couple of shops on Charoen Krung, one of which was closed but still apparently occupied, I got a tuk-tuk up to the Sala Daeng Skytrain station in order to cross over to the Central Dept Store in the Silom Complex. Admittedly the place was a bit seedy, but quite often they had decent farang-size clothes on sale that werenтАЩt designed for teenagers. The whole place was emptied. In December I did notice many shops were vacant and Central was having a major sale, so I guess it was a planned for demolition, maybe hastened by the flood.
Put off a visit to Central World until the next day. There I found a WhittardтАЩs (over-priced) tea shop. Picked up a package of loose-leaf Assam and was informed тАЬbuy one get one free.тАЭ The problem being that there didnтАЩt appear to be two of anything to choose, so I randomly grabbed something else which didnтАЩt faze the clerk. What did faze her and her cohort was the highly expensive computerized cash register, whereupon we resorted to a 100 baht calculator.
Went to Zen and found a Dr. SchollтАЩs. Asked for a pair of the super thick-soled sandals in size 8. After 10 minutes in the back the clerk reappeared and announced they did have size 9. Ah no, maybe not.
Moved on to find some fairly presentable shorts which, if the price was any indication, should last a bit longer than cut-rate market fare. They had them either in one size smaller or one size larger than what I asked for. Nope.
Went to Kinkokuniya Book Store and asked about a certain book published in Thailand on a Thai subject. They didnтАЩt have it nor did they offer to order it, not that I would have. Move on only weighed down by my tiny WhittardтАЩs tea bag.
When I came to Bangkok in December there was no Diet Coke, Pepsi-Max or Coke Zero available in the hotel, restaurants or the 7-Eleven. This time I brought along my own Coke Zero from Pattaya and the hotel did have some Diet Coke, but there was still none in the 7-Eleven near the Tarntawan. I know itтАЩs mostly a farang beverage, but surely by now тАж
For as long as I can remember when exiting the Tarntawan Hotel onto Surawongse and turning right, you quickly passed two different, essentially plain vanilla massage places. In December they were both up and running. A few days ago I noticed the first one was shuttered.
On my first day I went into the remaining one. IтАЩve had fair success in getting reasonably good foot/leg/neck massages there. I always ask for a male masseur (yes I realize thatтАЩs redundant) and have had a 50/50 experience in getting someone easy on the eyes. In December I had a great massage from a cute young man who actually did marvelous things for my legs and neck.
This time when I came in I was directed to a chair near the front but the assigned masseur swept in and shepherded me to the dimly lit back where тАЬcan relax.тАЭ I have had some decidedly non-plain vanilla massages here in darkened rooms on the upper floor or transported back to my hotel room, especially with the very accommodating Mr. Toy, but I havenтАЩt seen him for awhile, possibly another result of the floods.
This time after 10 minutes of toe pulling I was told that I could get a nice oil massage. I said maybe tomorrow. I then tried to size up the masseur in our dimly lit location and decided he wasnтАЩt too bad looking, so once again impulse directed that the mobile come out. I got his number and made a tentative appointment for the next afternoon at the hotel. Don't call me, I'll call you. Later in the afternoon and the next day he called me. Sigh.
Since it is not a sexually oriented massage place itтАЩs a little hard to decide where such things will lead, but he pitched up the next day as I was showering and he announced he would shower too. He shucked the traditional Thai massage costume and emerged from the shower wearing only a towel. He was probably late 20тАЩs, maybe early 30тАЩs and, unfortunately, may have become a bit too fond of fast food. Definitely in the transition stage between тАЬbeefyтАЭ in an appealing sense and тАЬbeefyтАЭ in the sense where gravity was no longer his friend.
Still not too bad. He did a reasonable massage of my back, legs and neck. He asked that I turn over. In complying I may have inadvertently tugged at his towel and then tossed it across the room. Probably not someone I would have offed from a gogo bar, but not so bad. I had sort of thought he could be straight, but my gaydar was now vibrating. After he massaged for another 30 seconds I gave him a gentle shove back and I did the massaging. Not long afterward as he began squealing тАЬI coming I comingтАЭ my initial thought that he could have been straight was laid to rest. After hosing himself off he followed my example leading to what is optimistically/euphemistically referred to as a happy ending and shortly thereafter left the building. I had actually wanted a real massage, among other things, but a double brandy while thinking of Mr. JтАЩs impending arrival kept me mellow.
There also seems to have been some staff changes at the Tarntawan. A few old familiar faces not seen this time and several new ones on duty. Not sure if thatтАЩs flood related, but there do seem to be a few rough edges. Speaking of rough, in my room above the bedside table that holds the A/c and lighting console, there were two deep gouges in the wall, one of which looked suspiciously like the foot of one of the roomтАЩs chairs. The glass top to the table was missing, its replacement arriving my second day there. Someone either took kinky to an extreme or he/they had something markedly not like a тАЬhappy ending.тАЭ No visible blood stains anyway.
After arriving at the hotel I got on the elevator with a waiter carrying a breakfast tray. тАЬYou go out or you want breakfast now?тАЭ I was asked rather unceremoniously. There seemed to be an implication that this breakfast carry-on was reaching its limits to his way of thinking. I said I was going out and basked in his warm glow of approval.
After the massage I called down for a double brandy.
тАЬWhat kind?тАЭ
тАЬUmm, I donтАЩt know, Hennessy, Courvoisier?тАЭ
тАЬHave Chivas or Black Label.тАЭ
тАЬHmm. ThatтАЩs more in the whiskey family.тАЭ
тАЬOh, oh sorry. Have Jim Beam or Jack Daniels.тАЭ
тАЬSounds like bourbon to me.тАЭ
тАЬOh,oh, sorry. Have Remy-Martin.тАЭ
тАЬBingo.тАЭ
I donтАЩt mean to make light of the effects of the flood. It was horrible for many people and has had devastating consequences well beyond the trivial inconveniences to my totally comfortable farang way of life, but it does seem very little has remained unaffected in some way.
A few days ago after visiting a couple of shops on Charoen Krung, one of which was closed but still apparently occupied, I got a tuk-tuk up to the Sala Daeng Skytrain station in order to cross over to the Central Dept Store in the Silom Complex. Admittedly the place was a bit seedy, but quite often they had decent farang-size clothes on sale that werenтАЩt designed for teenagers. The whole place was emptied. In December I did notice many shops were vacant and Central was having a major sale, so I guess it was a planned for demolition, maybe hastened by the flood.
Put off a visit to Central World until the next day. There I found a WhittardтАЩs (over-priced) tea shop. Picked up a package of loose-leaf Assam and was informed тАЬbuy one get one free.тАЭ The problem being that there didnтАЩt appear to be two of anything to choose, so I randomly grabbed something else which didnтАЩt faze the clerk. What did faze her and her cohort was the highly expensive computerized cash register, whereupon we resorted to a 100 baht calculator.
Went to Zen and found a Dr. SchollтАЩs. Asked for a pair of the super thick-soled sandals in size 8. After 10 minutes in the back the clerk reappeared and announced they did have size 9. Ah no, maybe not.
Moved on to find some fairly presentable shorts which, if the price was any indication, should last a bit longer than cut-rate market fare. They had them either in one size smaller or one size larger than what I asked for. Nope.
Went to Kinkokuniya Book Store and asked about a certain book published in Thailand on a Thai subject. They didnтАЩt have it nor did they offer to order it, not that I would have. Move on only weighed down by my tiny WhittardтАЩs tea bag.
When I came to Bangkok in December there was no Diet Coke, Pepsi-Max or Coke Zero available in the hotel, restaurants or the 7-Eleven. This time I brought along my own Coke Zero from Pattaya and the hotel did have some Diet Coke, but there was still none in the 7-Eleven near the Tarntawan. I know itтАЩs mostly a farang beverage, but surely by now тАж
For as long as I can remember when exiting the Tarntawan Hotel onto Surawongse and turning right, you quickly passed two different, essentially plain vanilla massage places. In December they were both up and running. A few days ago I noticed the first one was shuttered.
On my first day I went into the remaining one. IтАЩve had fair success in getting reasonably good foot/leg/neck massages there. I always ask for a male masseur (yes I realize thatтАЩs redundant) and have had a 50/50 experience in getting someone easy on the eyes. In December I had a great massage from a cute young man who actually did marvelous things for my legs and neck.
This time when I came in I was directed to a chair near the front but the assigned masseur swept in and shepherded me to the dimly lit back where тАЬcan relax.тАЭ I have had some decidedly non-plain vanilla massages here in darkened rooms on the upper floor or transported back to my hotel room, especially with the very accommodating Mr. Toy, but I havenтАЩt seen him for awhile, possibly another result of the floods.
This time after 10 minutes of toe pulling I was told that I could get a nice oil massage. I said maybe tomorrow. I then tried to size up the masseur in our dimly lit location and decided he wasnтАЩt too bad looking, so once again impulse directed that the mobile come out. I got his number and made a tentative appointment for the next afternoon at the hotel. Don't call me, I'll call you. Later in the afternoon and the next day he called me. Sigh.
Since it is not a sexually oriented massage place itтАЩs a little hard to decide where such things will lead, but he pitched up the next day as I was showering and he announced he would shower too. He shucked the traditional Thai massage costume and emerged from the shower wearing only a towel. He was probably late 20тАЩs, maybe early 30тАЩs and, unfortunately, may have become a bit too fond of fast food. Definitely in the transition stage between тАЬbeefyтАЭ in an appealing sense and тАЬbeefyтАЭ in the sense where gravity was no longer his friend.
Still not too bad. He did a reasonable massage of my back, legs and neck. He asked that I turn over. In complying I may have inadvertently tugged at his towel and then tossed it across the room. Probably not someone I would have offed from a gogo bar, but not so bad. I had sort of thought he could be straight, but my gaydar was now vibrating. After he massaged for another 30 seconds I gave him a gentle shove back and I did the massaging. Not long afterward as he began squealing тАЬI coming I comingтАЭ my initial thought that he could have been straight was laid to rest. After hosing himself off he followed my example leading to what is optimistically/euphemistically referred to as a happy ending and shortly thereafter left the building. I had actually wanted a real massage, among other things, but a double brandy while thinking of Mr. JтАЩs impending arrival kept me mellow.
There also seems to have been some staff changes at the Tarntawan. A few old familiar faces not seen this time and several new ones on duty. Not sure if thatтАЩs flood related, but there do seem to be a few rough edges. Speaking of rough, in my room above the bedside table that holds the A/c and lighting console, there were two deep gouges in the wall, one of which looked suspiciously like the foot of one of the roomтАЩs chairs. The glass top to the table was missing, its replacement arriving my second day there. Someone either took kinky to an extreme or he/they had something markedly not like a тАЬhappy ending.тАЭ No visible blood stains anyway.
After arriving at the hotel I got on the elevator with a waiter carrying a breakfast tray. тАЬYou go out or you want breakfast now?тАЭ I was asked rather unceremoniously. There seemed to be an implication that this breakfast carry-on was reaching its limits to his way of thinking. I said I was going out and basked in his warm glow of approval.
After the massage I called down for a double brandy.
тАЬWhat kind?тАЭ
тАЬUmm, I donтАЩt know, Hennessy, Courvoisier?тАЭ
тАЬHave Chivas or Black Label.тАЭ
тАЬHmm. ThatтАЩs more in the whiskey family.тАЭ
тАЬOh, oh sorry. Have Jim Beam or Jack Daniels.тАЭ
тАЬSounds like bourbon to me.тАЭ
тАЬOh,oh, sorry. Have Remy-Martin.тАЭ
тАЬBingo.тАЭ
I donтАЩt mean to make light of the effects of the flood. It was horrible for many people and has had devastating consequences well beyond the trivial inconveniences to my totally comfortable farang way of life, but it does seem very little has remained unaffected in some way.